


It's Magic

by PalmettoFoxDen



Category: Green Creek Series - T.J. Klune
Genre: Gen, Witch Ox
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 20:05:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13865043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalmettoFoxDen/pseuds/PalmettoFoxDen
Summary: Ox has always known that there was something different about him. He just didn't know what.





	It's Magic

Ox’s father had never been a good witch in any sense of the term. He hadn’t had much power and what power he did have he used for personal gain and making the wrong people angry. Curtis Matheson was already losing his powers when he moved to Green Creek and Ox was already growing into his. Curtis hadn’t liked that, but Curtis hadn’t liked much in Green Creek.

He hadn’t liked working for Gordo. He hadn’t liked losing his powers more and more over time. He’d drank to try to cope with it and that had only made it even harder for him to access what little power he’d had to start. He’d resented Ox for developing powers while he lost his. He’d been convinced that Ox was leeching his magic, even though Gordo had insisted that was not possible. Curtis had hated Ox for having magic and hated him for ‘being too stupid to realize it’. Nature had turned against Curtis, but nature _loved_ Ox, even from a young age.

Gordo had never particularly liked Curtis. He thought he was a bastard and that Ox and Maggie deserved infinitely better than him, but Gordo couldn’t do anything about that. All he could do was give Curtis a job and hope that he used the money he made to help look after them instead of just spending it on more alcohol that brought out his resentment of Ox and Maggie for their obliviousness.

Gordo did what he could for Ox though. He knew what it was like growing up with a bad witch as a father and he knew Ox deserved better than being called a freak and bullied by his own father, just because Curtis was jealous that Ox had a stronger connection than Curtis ever had.

What had been best for Ox had been keeping Ox’s powers a secret from him. Curtis had warned Gordo not to say a word because he didn’t want Ox growing up to be a magic freak like Gordo. Gordo had paid no mind to Curtis’s bitterness that Gordo and Ox had real magic and a real connection to nature like Curtis never had and never would, but he didn’t tell Ox anyway.

The Bennetts were gone from Green Creek. The supernatural was no longer a part of Gordo’s world. There was no reason that Ox needed to know what he was or that the supernatural existed. Gordo wanted to protect Ox from the risk and enemies that would come with knowing he was a witch. Ox did not need Curtis’s or the Bennetts’ enemies to come after him. He deserved to be a normal kid and to have a normal life. He was safer as a normal kid.

When Curtis took off, part of Gordo was relieved. He was angry as hell that Curtis had left Maggie and Ox behind to fend for themselves, but Gordo vowed that he would help them as best as he could and that they would be better off with Curtis gone. No longer would Ox have to be called a freak because he made the sun come out or the wind blow or it rain out of nowhere without realizing what he had done.

Gordo was annoyed and terrified when he found out the Bennetts were back in Green Creek, and, even worse, that they were drawn to Ox and that Ox was drawn to them too. Ox was in more danger with them there, drawing attention towards Green Creek, and he was at greater risk of finding out the truth. Gordo was terrified that the Bennetts would figure out what was different about Ox and would tell him. When Ox figured out that he was Gordo’s tether, Gordo was terrified that the magic Ox said he felt was more than just the pack bond and more than just Gordo’s magic through the tether. But, most of all, Gordo was terrified that Ox would not be able to forgive him for hiding the truth about him for so long if he found out what he was and what it was that made him so different. Gordo did not think he could live in a world where Oxnard Matheson hated him.

* * *

Ox had always been different, but he had never understood how. He had thought it was a bad thing like his father had always told him. _“You’re not a normal kid, Ox. You’re never going to be normal and people are always going to give you shit for it.”_

Ox had never considered that his difference could be a good thing until the Bennetts told him he was special, but he still had a hard time wrapping his brain around what made him such an enigma that he had somehow become the alpha of the Bennett pack as a human.

It was Robbie who figured it out first.

Ox was walking through the woods with his beta and touching the trees as he walked across his land like he often did. As usual, Ox felt at peace as he walked through nature. The birds seemed to sing a little louder and the leaves seemed to look a little greener and the wind seemed to rustle through the branches higher up on the trees, like an extension of his reach as his fingers ran over the bark of the trunks.

Sometimes, Ox thought that when he bent down and touched wildflowers, they seemed to bloom a little more before his eyes, but he had never thought anything of it. He had always assumed it was in his head and he had never known flowers to act any differently, but when he bent down to straighten a flower that had been crumpled under the foot of some wild animal and it seemed to bloom back to life as he touched it, Robbie stopped walking suddenly.

“ _Oh_ ,” Robbie said. “You’re a witch.”

He said it as if it was some information that should have been obvious and that everyone else must have known and he must have somehow missed. Ox just stared at him.

“What?”

“You’re a witch,” Robbie repeated. “Aren’t you? I don’t know how I missed it.”

“I’m not a-“ Ox tried because that idea was utterly ridiculous.

Gordo was a witch. Ox was a human. That’s just the way it was.

“What you just did? That’s a witch thing,” Robbie insisted. “You saved that flower. Why didn’t anyone tell me you were a witch? I’ve never heard of an alpha being a witch before.”

“Stop saying I’m a witch,” Ox said because he still didn’t believe it and because he was still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that he was an alpha now and he didn’t think he could take it if he was an alpha and a witch. He would have known if he was a witch. Someone would have told him. Someone would have known.

He would have noticed.

_Gordo_ would have noticed and he would have told him.

“Oh,” Robbie said, seeming a little disappointed. “Okay.”

Robbie dropped it for the rest of their walk, but the conversation wouldn’t leave Ox’s mind. So when he was walking with Mark later, Ox brought the topic up.

Mark knew more about witches than Ox did. Ox needed Mark to tell him that Robbie’s idea was as ridiculous as he thought it was so that he could stop worrying about it.

“Robbie thinks I’m a witch,” Ox said because that was true and because he wanted Mark’s uninfluenced reaction to Robbie’s theory. He wanted Mark to say it was ridiculous without having to prompt him.

He thought that Mark would say Robbie’s theory didn’t make sense or that Mark would at least stop and think about it. He didn’t think that Mark would turn and look at him as if he was truly seeing him for the first time and say, “ _You’re a witch_. How did I not see it?”

“You don’t really think I’m a witch, do you?” Ox asked because it just didn’t make sense that even if he was he would be just finding out now.

“This makes so much more sense,” Mark told him. “I always knew there was something special about you.”

* * *

When Gordo and the others came back, Ox had to know if he had known—if it was even true—so the first opportunity he had with him alone, he asked, “Am I a witch?”

He must have been hoping Gordo would deny it or look surprised because the way Gordo sighed like he had been waiting for this to come up _for years_ felt like a kick to the stomach.

“Ox-”

“You knew,” Ox said. His voice came out much calmer than he felt. “How long?”

Gordo was silent.

“Have you always known?”

Gordo still didn't say anything. Ox felt sick.

“Why didn't you tell me?” Ox asked.

“I was trying to protect you,” Gordo told him.

“By lying to me about who I am?” Ox asked. He had thought it was bad enough when Gordo had tried to keep him away from the Bennetts. He had never thought Gordo would be capable of hiding a part of Ox from him like this.

* * *

Ox felt terrible separate from Gordo for days. He missed Gordo so much and he didn't want to fight him anymore. He just wanted things to go back to the way they were before, but then again that wasn't totally true either. He wanted his father/brother/friend back, but he also wanted Gordo to be pack. He wanted Gordo to trust the Bennets. He wanted Gordo to explain this witch thing to him.

_Actually_ , he wanted Gordo to have told him he was a witch earlier and have explained it to him years before. But there was no sense holding a grudge and spending more time without understanding any of this. He did not want to be mad at Gordo anymore, but it was hard to let his anger go. So he spent a week avoiding the garage and avoiding Gordo and avoiding Joe and his pack. He spent his time angry at Gordo for not telling him and angry at himself for not figuring out what he was. All week, his mind was occupied by questions until those questions outweighed his anger and he finally went to go talk to Gordo.

When Ox walked into Gordo's office, Gordo looked relieved for a moment and then he looked like he was bracing himself for another argument.

"Are you here to tell me what a horrible friend I am for keeping this from you?" Gordo asked after a moment. "Because if you are I already know and I know I can't take it back."

"I don't know if I'm here to yell or not," Ox admitted. "I have some questions and how mad I get depends on your answers."

Gordo still looked nervous, but he told Ox, "Okay. I'll answer whatever you want as long as it means you won't hate me anymore. I can't stand the idea of you hating me, Ox."

Ox wasn't used to seeing Gordo emotional. He wasn't used to hearing Gordo's voice crack. It was an awful thing and Ox wanted to comfort Gordo at the same time that he thought Gordo deserved to feel bad for what he had done. Ox didn't know what to do with that so he just stood there for a moment and focused on his breathing.

"I don't want to hate you," Ox said finally. He didn't say he didn't hate Gordo because a part of him was still holding onto that anger and hatred. He didn't say that he hated him either.

"What's your first question?" Gordo asked.

“Am I really a witch?” Ox asked.

“Yes,” Gordo said.

“How?” Ox asked. “Was my mom?”

“Your mother was human. Your dad was a witch,” Gordo told him. “Nothing like you though. He didn’t have a good connection with nature.”

“I have a good connection with nature?” Ox asked.

“You always have,” Gordo said. “I knew you could be a powerful witch if you embraced your powers and learned to use them. I was afraid of what would happen then. Power like that always draws a target.”

“Would you have ever told me if I didn’t find out?” Ox asked.

“I don’t know,” Gordo admitted. “I wasn’t planning to.”

It was a horrible answer, but at least Gordo was telling him the truth. Ox didn’t think he could take it if Gordo kept lying to him.

“There’s already a target on my back,” Ox pointed out. “I might be the only witch alpha in the world and I’m the future mate of the alpha of the Bennett pack. There is always going to be a target on my back.”

“I know,” Gordo admitted.

“I might be able to protect myself if I knew how to use my powers for more than just helping trampled flowers,” Ox told him. “I might be able to protect _my pack_ , both of our packs together.”

Gordo didn’t say anything, but Ox could tell by the look on Gordo’s face that he knew he was right.

“Will you teach me how to use my magic?” Ox asked after a heavy silence.

Gordo considered for a moment and then said, “I’ll teach you anything you want to learn.”

“When do we start?” Ox asked.

“Are you busy after work?” Gordo asked and Ox couldn’t help but smile. Gordo wasn’t trying to get out of this. He was really going to teach him.

“No,” Ox said.

“We can start tonight then,” Gordo told him and Ox nodded in response. After a moment, Gordo asked, “So, are we good? Because I really need us to be good.”

Ox considered for a moment. “Yeah. We’re good.”

Gordo’s entire body visibly relaxed and the last of Ox’s anger dissipated when he saw how much Gordo had been afraid that he would not forgive him.

“You know, I was going to go grab something to eat,” Gordo told him. “You could come with me. I’ll buy you lunch and we can catch up. I’ve missed you, kid.”

“Okay,” Ox said. “I’ve missed you too. Can I ask you more questions on the way?”

“Sure,” Gordo agreed.

“Does this mean my arms are going to glow in the dark?” Ox asked.

“No.”

“How do you get tattoos like that anyway?” Ox prodded. “Do moving tattoos just show up on you one day? Or does it happen over time? Is there a place you can go to get them? Or do you put them on yourself with magic? Or does someone else have to do it? And have they always moved or were they normal tattoos at first?”

“This is the most I have ever heard you talk about anything,” Gordo pointed out. He was trying to sound exasperated, but Ox could hear in Gordo’s tone that he was just glad to be back on good terms with him again.

“Do all witches have glow in the dark tattoos?” Ox asked. “Why do they move around? Do all witches have the same ones? Do all witches have ravens or do some have other animals? Why is yours a witch? Why don’t I have tattoos?”

“You have more. Don’t you?” Gordo sighed as he held the door of the garage open for Ox. “You may as well keep going and get them all out now before I start answering.”

“Do I have secret tattoos? Did you use magic to hide them? Do tattoos help you control your magic? Do yours just get brighter when you’re using your magic or do other things change if they look bright or faded? If I’ve been a witch this whole time, does that mean you’re my tether too? Why didn’t the Bennetts know I was a witch? How did you know? Can witches sense other witches? Can _I_ sense other witches? How did you figure out what my dad was? Why didn’t he ever tell me what I am? Did he know what I was? Did he have secret magic tattoos?”

“We’re going to have a lot to talk about,” Gordo said. His tone said he was annoyed, but the smile on his face said he was glad to get to spend the time with Ox again. Ox was glad to get to spend time with him too.


End file.
